The Greek Blues (a.k.a. Rembetika) is a music form which can essentially be understood by being a part of it, through the music, lyrics and culture associated with it; by being there. In an effort to shed some light onto the infamous Greek music style, we sourced some of the best Greek musicians in Sydney and they will present their version of the Rembetika ‘Story’.
This concert brings to life a 1920’s Rembetika hangout based on information from books, old photographs and records from mid last century as well as our own romantic imagination. The representation is complete with musicians, singers, dancers and a storyline tying the songs together into a narrative.
We wish to give the audience a feel for the era through sound and visual representation. The focus is to entertain and educate the audience.
While music is universal, language is not. To make up for that, we have made sure to include theatrical subtitles to paint a picture and explain about the themes and the lyrics.
A snippet about the history
Rembetika music is the music of the Greek Underground. It originated in the hashish dens of Pireaus and Thessaloniki around the turn of the 20th century and was influenced by oriental elements that came with the forced immigration of 2 million Greek refugees from Asia Minor. It gave way to Greek Popular Music (Laika) which used the same instruments in similar ways during the early 1950s.
Rembetika were urban blues of a quasi-criminal subculture, despised by the middle classes and suppressed by the authorities.
Special thanks to Anastasia Kerros for her graphic design, Fotis Karipidis for building the stage from scratch.
DATE & TIME: Sat 05 Jul @ 8:00PM
LOCATION:
The Factory Theatre
105 Victoria Road, Enmore
PRICE: $35 + bf
BOOKINGS: 02 9550 3666
BUY TICKETS ONLINE:
http://www.factorytheatre.com.au/
Music arrangement and direction
Peter Kalandranis
Musicians
Andonis Kekatos – Bouzouki
Petros Apostolidis – Bouzouki
Steven Linardos – Accordion
George Nikolopoulos – Acoustic Base
Christos Kollias – Percussion
Jim Yianisis – Violin
Yiannis Anastasiadis – Vocals
Michael Xeilas – Vocals
Georgette Giatis – Vocals
Actors
Georgios Samartzis – ‘Thanasis’
Kate Barnes – ‘Erinaki’
Panagiota Bintas – ‘Panayota
Source: Greek Blues – Muse Events
A great local theatre production is back for a special return season!
The Greek Parliament on Wednesday ratified an agreement between Greece and Australia regulating social insurance and pension entitlement issues, alternate government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros announced.
